10 Players to Watch for in Deep Fantasy Basketball Leagues

If you play in a 14+ team fantasy basketball league then you know how hard it is to find talent on the waiver wire, this article helps identify X players to add to your watch-list, or potentially add as we head into week 1 of the NBA season, who are owned in 10% or less of Yahoo leagues.

We've broken down player data including full-season projections, projections per 36 minutes, last season's averages, and last season's averages when playing between 20-30 minutes as well as between 30-40 minutes.

Stanley Johnson (DET - SG/SF)

Owned in 6% of Yahoo leagues and has long-term appeal

Stanley has yet to meet any expectations since being drafted, but with the starting SF spot likely his, now's his chance to shine. His FG% will be bad, but he has the ability to give you nice numbers in the 3PM, REB, AST and STL categories at the SF spot.

Breakdown

GP

MIN

FG%

FT%

PTS

3PM

REB

AST

STL

BLK

TO

2017/18 Projections

78

25.0

0.40

0.74

8.7

1.1

4.0

2.0

0.9

0.4

1.6

Projections (PER/36)

78

36.0

0.40

0.74

12.5

1.6

5.8

2.9

1.3

0.6

2.3

2016/17 Season

77

17.8

0.35

0.68

4.4

0.6

2.5

1.4

0.7

0.3

0.9

16/17 GP BW 20-30M

22

24.3

0.30

0.70

5.9

1.0

3.0

2.1

1.1

0.4

1.0

16/17 GP BW 30-40M

5

33.6

0.49

1.00

8.4

1.0

4.2

3.4

1.0

0.4

2.0

Timofey Mozgov (BKN - C)

Owned in 10% of Yahoo leagues and has short-medium term appeal

The C spot in Brooklyn runs thin, and Mozgov offers much-needed stability in the starting lineup until rookie big-man Jarrett Allen proves he's ready to start. If Mozgov can play 25-27 minutes a game he'll be a nice end of bench big man in deeper leagues.

2017/18 Projections

70

21.0

0.52

0.74

7.9

0.0

5.4

0.7

0.4

0.8

1.4

Projections (PER/36)

70

36.0

0.52

0.74

13.5

0.0

9.3

1.2

0.7

1.4

2.4

2016/17 Season

54

20.4

0.52

0.81

7.4

0.0

4.9

0.8

0.3

0.6

1.3

16/17 GP BW 20-30M

24

23.0

0.60

0.80

9.3

0.0

5.1

0.9

0.5

0.7

1.4

16/17 GP BW 30-40M

5

33.0

0.64

0.82

13.4

0.0

6.6

1.2

0.6

1.0

0.6

Kelly Oubre Jr (WAS - SF)

Owned in 9% of Yahoo leagues and has short-medium term appeal

The injury to Morris opens up minutes at the PF spot for both Porter and Oubre Jr, what Kelly does with them will be of interest to most deep leaguers

Breakdown

GP

MIN

FG%

FT%

PTS

3PM

REB

AST

STL

BLK

TO

2017/18 Projections

77

24

0.43

0.71

8

0.8

4.4

0.7

0.8

0.3

0.9

Projections (PER/36)

77

36

0.43

0.71

12

1.2

6.6

1

1.2

0.5

1.4

2016/17 Season

82

20.3

0.42

0.76

6.4

0.7

3.3

0.6

0.7

0.2

0.6

16/17 GP BW 20-30M

41

24.9

0.5

0.8

8.5

0

4.2

0.7

1

0.3

0.7

16/17 GP BW 30-40M

4

34

0.27

0.67

7.3

0

5.3

0.5

0.8

0.3

0.8

Denzel Valentine (CHI - SG/SF)

Owned in 5% of Yahoo leagues and has long-term appeal

It's no secret that the Chicago situation is a complete mess, so you have to assume at some point common sense will prevail and they'll start giving Valentine big minutes

Breakdown

GP

MIN

FG%

FT%

PTS

3PM

REB

AST

STL

BLK

TO

2017/18 Projections

70

22.0

0.36

0.80

6.5

1.5

3.5

1.4

0.6

0.2

1.1

Projections (PER/36)

70

36.0

0.36

0.80

10.6

2.5

5.7

2.3

1.0

0.3

1.8

2016/17 Season

59

16.6

0.36

0.78

5.0

1.3

2.6

1.1

0.5

0.1

0.8

16/17 GP BW 20-30M

18

24.3

0.30

1.00

7.3

1.0

4.4

1.6

0.8

0.3

1.3

16/17 GP BW 30-40M

6

32.2

0.40

0.83

11.7

3.0

4.3

2.0

1.3

0.2

1.0

E'Twaun Moore (nor - PG/SG/SF)

Owned in 4% of Yahoo leagues and has mid-term appeal

Rondo's injury moves Jrue back to his natural PG position, and opens up minutes at the SG spot for Moore. The added roster flexibility is a bonus.

Breakdown

GP

MIN

FG%

FT%

PTS

3PM

REB

AST

STL

BLK

TO

2017/18 Projections

72

26.0

0.45

0.71

8.7

1.1

2.3

2.3

0.7

0.5

1.0

Projections (PER/36)

72

36.0

0.45

0.71

12.0

1.5

3.2

3.2

1.0

0.7

1.4

2016/17 Season

73

24.9

0.46

0.77

9.6

1.1

2.1

2.2

0.7

0.5

0.8

16/17 GP BW 20-30M

46

25.2

0.50

0.80

9.2

0.0

2.3

2.0

0.7

0.5

0.7

16/17 GP BW 30-40M

12

32.8

0.48

0.79

14.3

1.0

2.3

3.3

1.0

0.4

1.3

Yogi Ferrell (DAL - PG)

Owned in 6% of Yahoo leagues and has short-term appeal

The injury to Seth Curry opens up more minutes for a dual-PG lineup since there's no clear back-up at the SG spot. Yogi played well enough last season to get some of those SG minutes in the short-term.

Breakdown

GP

MIN

FG%

FT%

PTS

3PM

REB

AST

STL

BLK

TO

2017/18 Projections

70

22.0

0.40

0.82

8.9

1.2

2.1

3.2

0.8

0.2

1.2

Projections (PER/36)

70

36.0

0.40

0.82

14.6

2.0

3.4

5.2

1.3

0.3

2.0

2016/17 Season

46

26.0

0.41

0.83

10.0

1.5

2.4

3.8

1.0

0.2

1.5

16/17 GP BW 20-30M

18

25.9

0.40

0.70

9.6

1.0

2.5

4.0

1.1

0.3

1.6

16/17 GP BW 30-40M

17

33.8

0.46

0.92

14.2

2.0

2.9

4.8

1.0

0.1

1.8

Frank Ntilikina (PG)

Owned in 8% of Yahoo leagues and has long-term appeal

Rookies are always a risk, but similar to the situation in Chicago, you have to hope that common sense will eventually preval, and that Frank will be given the starting PG spot at some point in the season.

Breakdown

GP

MIN

FG%

FT%

PTS

3PM

REB

AST

STL

BLK

TO

2017/18 Projections

72

20.0

0.44

0.56

5.6

0.6

2.5

1.3

0.6

0.3

1.2

Projections (PER/36)

72

36.0

0.44

0.56

10.1

1.1

4.5

2.3

1.1

0.5

2.2

2016/17 Season

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Jerian Grant (CHI - PG/SG)

Owned in 10% of Yahoo leagues and has short-term appeal

The injury to Dunn means Grant will have all of the minutes he can handle at the PG spot until Kris returns. If he plays well enough (a bit if), he may even keep the starting spot.

Breakdown

GP

MIN

FG%

FT%

PTS

3PM

REB

AST

STL

BLK

TO

2017/18 Projections

70

20.0

0.40

0.83

7.7

0.7

2.2

2.5

0.8

0.2

1.1

Projections (PER/36)

70

36.0

0.40

0.83

13.9

1.3

4.0

4.5

1.4

0.4

2.0

2016/17 Season

67

16.0

0.41

0.90

5.7

0.7

1.7

1.9

0.7

0.1

0.7

16/17 GP BW 20-30M

18

24.6

0.40

1.00

9.0

1.0

2.9

3.1

1.2

0.1

0.9

16/17 GP BW 30-40M

4

31.5

0.58

0.85

15.3

2.0

4.8

3.8

2.0

0.3

1.0

Domantas Sabonis (IND - PF)

Owned in 2% of Yahoo leagues and has long-term appeal

This will take a while to play out, but if Indiana choose to tank, and Thad Young is traded then it makes sense that Indiana give minutes to Sabonis. He's more of a watch-list guy for now, though.

Breakdown

GP

MIN

FG%

FT%

PTS

3PM

REB

AST

STL

BLK

TO

2017/18 Projections

80

20.0

0.42

0.66

6.4

0.7

3.6

1.1

0.5

0.5

1.0

Projections (PER/36)

80

36.0

0.42

0.66

11.5

1.3

6.5

2.0

0.9

0.9

1.8

2016/17 Season

83

19.7

0.40

0.68

5.8

0.6

3.5

1.0

0.5

0.4

1.0

16/17 GP BW 20-30M

38

24.3

0.40

0.60

7.1

0.0

3.7

1.3

0.6

0.5

1.1

16/17 GP BW 30-40M

5

32.9

0.37

0.81

11.6

1.0

8.0

0.8

0.8

0.6

2.2

DeAndre' Bembry (ATL - SF)

Owned in 0% of Yahoo leagues and has long-term appeal

Bembry is another watch-list candidate, but in the minutes he played last season he showed signs of being a competent ball-handler, which is exacly what Atlanta need from their wing players.